Sara's Past
by Fuming Orange
Summary: When Sara returns home due to a death in the family, what will happen when she must face a difficult past and her troubled family.
1. Unexpected News

Sara Sidle hadn't been able to sleep, she had a long night, and a difficult case, and had gone to bed, hoping to be able to fall asleep, however that wasn't going to happen. Deciding that she wasn't going to be able to fall asleep, she got up and channel surfed. She wanted something that would lull her to sleep, so she stopped on a soap opera, something that she secretly watched at times.

Sara did secretly like soap operas, she would never admit it, but she did, she hoped that just relaxing and watching _As the World Turns_ would help her fall asleep. She was enthralled in the actions of the people that she jumped when the phone rang.

Sara walked over and picked the phone up. "Hello?" Sara said. "Sara?" said the voice at the other end. Sara knew who it was instantly. "Mom?" she asked. "Sara, I need you to come home right away." Sara was surprised. Before she could ask, her mother continued. "There was an accident, an accident with your father, he's gone." Knowing what she meant but not having it sink in, Sara asked, "Gone?" "He's dead." Sara's mother finished. Sara sighed. This was a shock, but still, it hadn't sunk in. "Mom, what happened?" asked Sara. "There was an accident," Mrs. Sidle began. "An accident?" Sara asked. "Yes, Sara, an accident. Listen, I'd rather not speak about it over the phone, just please come here as soon as you can." "Okay, Mom, I'll be there as soon as I can." "Okay, dear. I hope to see you soon." Sara's mother then hung up.

Sara stood there, with the phone still in her hand, shocked and surprised, her father was dead. Sara hung up the phone, unsure what to think. She suddenly had a rush of memories come flooding back to her, memories that were good and bad. She had a craving. She went into her room and threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and got into her car, and went to the nearest establishment.

She went to a seat, and the man behind the bar asked, "What can I get you?" "Double bourbon on the rocks, please." Sara requested. He came back only a moment later with the glass. She picked up the glass and took a gulp of it. Her craving faded with the strong taste of the bourbon.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Sara walked down the hallway of the lab, making a beeline for Grissom's office. She knocked then walked in when Grissom looked up. "Listen, Grissom, I need some time off," Sara said abruptly. Grissom looked surprised. "Okay, is there a reason for the sudden departure?" Grissom asked. Sara was reluctant to talk about the reason for her leaving.

"A family emergency." Sara said. "I see," said Grissom. "Well, how long do you think you'll need?" Grissom asked. "Probably a week, a week and a half," Sara said simply. "Okay, go ahead." Grissom said. Sara sighed and turned around and left his office. Grissom had been acting like that as of late. Sara went to her locker and grabbed her things, but not before speaking with Catherine before leaving.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Sara placed clothes into her suitcases; she looked for something that would be appropriate to wear to the funeral. She decided to bring a simple black dress that she had bought a several years back for some occasion she had planned on going to, but decided against it. She packed jeans, shirts, socks, underwear, and several pairs of shoes.

Sara closed her suitcases, she only had two, quickly looked around to see if she had missed anything, but didn't see anything. She grabbed her suitcase, her plane ticket, and called a cab to take her to the airport, she didn't want to take her car, so she took a cab.

Sara wasn't sure how she felt about going home.


	2. There's No Place Like Home

Sara Sidle sat down in a small cafeteria in the airport. She had a rather unappealing salad, banana, and cup of coffee before her. She was in the Sacramento Metropolitan Airport, waiting for three more hours before the plane that was scheduled to land in San Francisco would be ready. The plane had to make an emergency landing after an emergency with the engine. Sara had just gotten off the plane, fresh from Las Vegas. She was a little hungry, after having just eaten a packet of peanuts on the plane earlier.

She ate her unappealing meal in silence while flipping through a local newspaper from the previous day. She finished, and decided she might as well take a little trip through Sacramento; it had been years since she had been there last. After a short excursion through Sacramento, she went back to the airport, and waited until she heard the call over the intercom announcing the boarding for the plane Sara was scheduled go on.

Sara boarded, and luckily, managed to get a window seat. The plane took off, and Sara enjoyed looking at the California scenery. She always loved California, with its natural beauty of forests and lakes. Sara sometimes wondered how she ended up in Nevada, which was the complete opposite of Nevada for the most part.

Sara was from Tamales Bay, California. It was a very pretty, almost idealistic place to grow up in. She went to school, had on-and-off friends, but was a loner for most of her high school days. She hadn't been to Tamales Bay that often since she left and went to Harvard. Following her graduation from Harvard, she took a job as a coroner in Los Angeles, but got a better job offer in San Francisco, and she took it, and eventually became a CSI, and to where her life was at the time.

Turning back to look at the seat in front of her, Sara thought about her family. She was for the most part, excited to see them. Despite her issues with her family, she was very proud of her heritage.

Originally, the Sidle family had come to California during the Gold Rush. His father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and so on, had all been farmers. Sara's father, Rick Sidle was born into a family of farmers. Rick decided against this, and after a lifestyle change to hippies, Rick eventually went to college and became a dentist.

Sara's mother, Margaret Fenwick Sidle, called Maggie for short, had come from upstate New York; she was involved in drama in high school and had come to California when she intended to become an actress. However, she met Rick Sidle and the two married, and had what should've been a happy life together.

Sara sighed and closed her eyes. Her parents, she always wished she could've had a better relationship with them. She felt gloomy thinking about what became of her parents. She tried to lighten her thoughts by switching over to her siblings.

Sara was the baby of the family, even though she hated being called that. She was the youngest of three children. She had an older brother and an older sister. Sara's brother Scott currently lived in Chicago, where he worked as an attorney. He was the only attorney that Sara actually liked, as she found most attorneys to be a pain in the ass. Scott was a workaholic like Sara, they had been close, but when Scott left for college, and ended up in different locales across the country with their jobs in the way, they drifted apart.

Sara's sister, Sabrina lived in Seattle with her husband and kids. She had become the ultimate soccer mom. Sabrina and her husband, Mike had three kids, Leona, Jamie and Brian. Leona was 6 years old, Jamie was 4, and Brian wasn't even a year old yet. Whenever Sara talked on the phone with Sabrina, Sabrina was always rattling on about Leona's spelling tests, an ear infection that Brian had, or how smart Jamie was becoming. Sara wanted to talk about something other than her nieces and nephew, but all Sabrina ever wanted to talk about was her kids.

Sara wasn't exactly "Mom" material, but she was excited to see her nieces and nephew. She did have an interest in them, but didn't want to constantly discuss them with her sister.

Sara heard the person speaking into the intercom announce that they wanted the people to put their seatbelts on, as they preparing to land. She did so, and the plane went down and she got off. She grabbed her luggage, and got outside, and was instantly greeted by a sense of familiarity when she saw the skyline of San Francisco. Sara walked down the sidewalk to a rental car place, and rented a car.

Sara threw her luggage into the back seat, and got in and started driving. She saw that after five years, San Francisco hadn't changed much. She drove the familiar route back to Tamales Bay. Before Sara knew it she was back at her childhood home. She got out, grabbed her luggage and slammed the door. She closed the door and stood there at the sight before her.

The Sidle house was right before Sara. It was still surrounded by trees, and off in the distance, she still could see the beach, just as always. The house was a two-story house, painted a light blue, with plants hanging on the large porch which her mother kept in order with great persistence. The Sidle house had previously been a bed and breakfast, when Sara's parents opened it up when she was in 7th grade, but not long after she began to work in San Francisco, they closed the B&B down.

Sara grabbed her suitcases, and walked to the side door, which was always used for the family members as long as Sara could remember. She knocked on it, and Sara's mother opened the door.

Maggie Fenwick Sidle was a short, stout little woman with strawberry blonde hair who barely came up to Sara's shoulder. Sara and Maggie didn't really look that much alike, Sara took after her father's side of the family. Sara had however, inherited her mother's brown eyes, and her face was the same basic shape to their faces.

"Hi Mom" was all Sara said. "Oh, Sara, I'm so glad you're home." Maggie replied as Sara and Maggie hugged, with Sara crouching down as though to hug a child. "Here, let me get that for you," Maggie said as she grabbed Sara's luggage. Sara walked in, closing the door behind her. There was this rather awkward silence between the two of them before Maggie said: "So, how was your trip here?" "It was fine; I got the chance to visit Sacramento for awhile." Sara replied.

"So, Mom, what happened with Dad?" Sara asked. Maggie sighed. "He had an accident," she said simply "He was fishing and he fell and hit his head somewhere on the boat, and he was out on the boat until one of the neighbor's who was out on the water found him."

Sara, as a CSI, instantly thought this sounded a little suspicious. Before she could ask, Maggie continued. "The police were called, and they said it was an accident." "Okay," said Sara.

"Here, I might as well take you up to your room so you can freshen up after your flight." Maggie said with a slight smile. "Am I sleeping in my old room?" Sara asked. "Mm-hmm," Maggie replied. "Unless you're planning on staying in a hotel." "No, no," Sara said. Maggie led through Sara through the house, which looked more unused than Sara was used to. "So, are Scott and Sabrina here?" Sara asked. "Yes, Scott has gone to see some friend of his from high school who lives in San Francisco, and Sabrina is with the kids taking them through Tamales Bay. I wasn't expecting you to come until later, and I told them that, otherwise they probably would've been here." Maggie replied.

"So, when's the funeral?" Sara asked when her mom opened the door to the room. "It's Monday, at the Church." Maggie said. "Monday?" Sara asked. "Yes," said Maggie. "Is that a problem?" "No, Mom, it's just I thought that it would be sooner."

Sara was surprised. Her room had changed very little in the placement of things since she left it. The bed, the dresser, and her desk were all in the same place. The bedspread was different. The curtains were the same, and the window had the same view of the beach. In her teenage days, her room was covered with posters, had a lot of bookshelves filled with books, and some other small things which were now gone. She was surprised that her parents just left the room the same rather than change it.

Sara turned around to look at her mother, and Maggie said with a small smile, "I'll let you get yourself unpacked and situated." Maggie then left, closing the door behind her.

What was with her? Sara wondered. She was acting different. She wasn't sure how she was, but she knew she was acting different.


End file.
